Crystals and Leaves of Fire
by Sufferingzombie
Summary: Chuunin Exams. An epic battle for the universe and the Kyuubi is...what? This sucks, so if you want to flame, feel free. This is my disclaimer: I don't own anything. One-shot. I am rewriting; will be taken down before Saturday.


Naruto and Neji, facing off in the Chuunin Exams of Konohagakure no sato, looked up in shock with the rest of the village, the rest of the ninja world as the epic battle was show in their skies. The women stood tall, their short sailor uniforms ragged and torn, before a force of nightmares that none of the nins could honestly tell themselves they would be able to stand before. At the far left of the group was the sole male, a man wearing armor the likes no ninja had ever seen before. Black and silver with a cape attached at the shoulders and a broad sword at his side, he looked like the knights of legend that the adults of the villages told to their children as bedtime stories. Beside him stood a young woman with short, dirty blonde hair who wore a sailor suit like the other women, the skirt was dark blue as was the jewel in the center of her chest surrounded by a dull yellow bow. She held a curved short sword at her side, her grip as tight as her expression.

The next woman was a shade shorter than the one before with shoulder length aqua colored hair and eyes that Naruto could swear held the ocean in their depths. Her fuku had a blue skirt and a blue ribbon and she what looked like a hand mirror in her hand with a strange symbol on the back.

Beside her was a much shorter girl of perhaps thirteen, but she gave off the most frightening energy of the lot. She had shoulder length, straight black hair and violet eyes that looked as though they had seen far too much for someone of her age. Her fuku had a dark purple skirt and a black ribbon and in her hand was the most wicked looking naginata that any had ever seen, its G-shaped blade fairly screaming with dark power.

Next was a tall woman with long, dark green hair and garnet eyes, more pink than Kurenai's red eyes, but also much colder than Kurenai's. Her skirt was black, her ribbon was dark red and she held a staff that looked strangely like a key with a round gem on top. She, like the young girl, looked much older than she should.

Beside her was a teenage girl with short blue hair and a cracked visor over her eyes, keeping them from seeing her true eye color. Her skirt was blue, the ribbon on her chest a lighter shade and she had something in her hand that she seemed to be poking (Mercury computer, but I don't think Konoha has laptops :P), which had a strange symbol on it similar to that of the other woman's mirror.

The teen in red was next; her eyes a fierce violet that seemed to be on fire from within. Red skirt, purple bow and long hair so black that it had a red sheen to it. She held a bow that seemed to be made of living flames in one hand and an ofuda in the other.

A long-haired blonde was next, a true beauty (not that the others weren't) with bright blue eyes and a red bow in her hair. Her skirt was a shade of orange that even Naruto wouldn't wear everyday and the bow on her chest was blue, she was the only one wearing a slight smile, a lightly glowing chain in her hand, the links shaped like hearts.

Next to her was a teen with a high, brown pony-tail, fierce green eyes and what looked like an antenna on her tiara, the only thing beside the color that made it different from the ones worn by all the other women. The antenna sparked with electricity that ran down her body and over the pink bow on her chest and the dark green skirt that completed her fuku. She held what looked like a shining leaf in her hand, her other fisted and shaking with anger.

Finally there was the last fuku'd teen, wearing a fuku more elaborate than the others, her skirt a layered number of black, red and yellow. A gold heart adorned her chest, surrounded by white wings that matched the wings she wore as well. Her hair was in two buns very much like Tenten's, but hers had long streamers of silver hair streaming from them all the way to the ground. Her eyes were the exact same shade of blue as Naruto's and held the same kindness, but also a kind of sadness that no one recognized. In her hand she held a staff with a winged gem at the top.

The last figure was the oddest of the lot, though it was obvious that the silver-haired girl was the leader, this one fairly _exuded_ power. She was obviously a woman, though the only reason they could really tell was because her armor was fitted. She was helmet-less, like the knight on the other side of the group, but that was where their similarities ended. Her armor was more segmented, obviously designed not to impede movement at all, and was dark red in color, but the bad thing about it was that it was cracked. It looked as if a strong strike from any angle would shatter the armor. Her hair was braided into a single, thick braid going down her back and ending at her hips, what looked like bits of crystal or glass braided into the end. Her eyes were…empty. A beautiful shade of amber, but totally devoid of life. At her side she held a pair of wakizashi with black and violet blades, both glowing and pulsing with power.

&&&((&&(&(

"You're beaten Sailor Scouts! Just give up and let Chaos-sama rule!"

"Not on your lives! We won't lose, right scouts?"

They all nodded at the words of the silver haired one, but the monsters didn't seem to like that. They split up at the motion from the one who had spoken, seemingly the leader, and each group went after the 'scouts'. The teen with the visor suddenly pulled what looked like a harp, seemingly out of nowhere and all those watching were shocked to see water surround her as she called out her attack, spears of water leaving the harp and turning to ice as they hit their targets.

"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"

Next to her was the teen in red, who drew the string of her bow and shot arrows of pure fire before putting it aside for a moment and putting her arm straight up in the air. She drew it down to her side, pointed to the ground and put it again straight up, having made a large circle of fire in front of her. She put both hands together and drew the fire into her palms, calling the attack as rings of fire came from her hands to eliminate her enemies.

"Mars Burning Mandala!"

The tallest woman, with the sword, raised her hand, not moving in the face of the hoard coming toward her, and her hand started glowing.

"Uranus World Shaking!"

She threw the light to the ground, which then became a bright yellow orb of energy that carved a massive ditch in the ground as it obliterated her enemies. Then she went in with the sword as her partner, the aqua-haired woman, began her attack. She held the mirror to her chest and her eyes snapped open as she turned it around so the mirrored side faced her enemies.

"Neptune Submarine Reflection!"

The light from the mirror destroyed her foes with nary a scream.

Bright light flashed as a monster's attack splashed harmlessly against the shield the smallest scout had thrown up in front of herself and the brown haired lightning teen.

"Thanks Saturn! Jupiter Oak Evolution!"

The lightning girl spun rapidly and shining, electrified oak leaves came from the antenna on her tiara and shocked the hoard racing toward her and the little scout. Meanwhile, the little scout, the one that no nin would have taken seriously looked up just as some of the attackers approached the silver haired woman.

"Sailor Moon!"

Venus was confident that she could beat the youma coming at her and Pluto as she pulled her chain back for her strike. Saturn's sudden shout forced her to look over at where her beloved friend and princess was fighting and she saw the same thing the dark shinobi saw. There were three youma heading to attack Usagi's blind side. Venus barely remembered moving, but she did remember the pain as the youma's weapon sank deep into her side.

"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"

She kissed her hand, the heart of laser energy glowing an angry orange as she threw it and it multiplied, striking and killing the three youma as she fell to her knees in pain. She never saw the lightning strike that punched through her back, her heart and out her chest, killing her instantly.

"Sailor Venus!"

Naruto didn't know why, but he felt like crying as the teen in orange fell in death. What was more, Kyuubi was sad, which made Naruto shake his head and clutch at his stomach. This drew the attention of the proctor, Gekko Hayate, who placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"You okay kid?"

Naruto didn't even think as he answered, not realizing that everyone could hear him.

"No. The damn fox is…crying. It hurts."

Naruto cried out once, and then fell to his knees, holding his stomach tightly as the demon within thrashed and growled.

_Minako-hime!_

The next to fall was the blue teen.

"Shabon Spray, Freeze!"

The monsters hit froze and shattered, but she was the only one to see the strike coming at the red teen's back. She followed her instincts and put herself between the red teen and the attack. The teen turned in time to see the blue teen impaled from behind by a monster's arm/blade. Her eyes widened and the fire in them rose and grew into a physical manifestation of her anger and sorrow.

"Mars Everlasting Fire!"

The monster didn't even have time to scream as Mars grabbed the little blue teen.

"Mercury? Mercury! No, you can't leave us Mercury! We've already lost Minako, I can't lose you too Ami!"

Ami just smiled and raised her hand to the face of her friend, the silver-haired teen watching with tears falling down her face.

"Oyasuminasai, Rei-chan."

With that, the princess of Mercury died.

Kyuubi thrashed and screamed within his cage, his eyes glowing brightly as the energy and star seed of the Mercurian faded away into the Galaxy Cauldron. He never even registered the screaming pain of his jailor as his body began to glow the same shade of blue as the icy waters Mizuno Ami had once called friend.

_Ami-hime_

No one in the arena knew why Naruto was screaming in pain, just that he was. It wasn't until the nimbus of red chakra surrounded him that the nin from Konoha truly began to worry. Panic only set in when the nimbus coalesced into a fox-like form, its head tilted up to watch the fight in the sky.

The yellow woman was the next to die.

She, like the others, put herself between the one she loved and an unseen attack. The ocean woman screamed as the short-haired woman began to bleed from the mouth, a large hand withdrawing itself from her stomach.

"Uranus! Haruka, please…no!"

"Aishiteru…Michi-chan."

A scream from the guts tore through Michiru and the symbol of Neptune began to glow brightly on her forehead, replacing the tiara that normally sat there.

"Neptune Depth Charge!"

A massive amount of water gathered at her chest and was thrust forward with a sharp motion into the monsters that remained; their numbers a mere fraction of what they had been at the start. The nin watching could see that the aqua haired woman had broken, her soul's shards clearly visible in the ocean of her eyes as she expended all her power to kill the ones who had taken her love.

Kaioh Michiru and Ten'noh Haruka died, side-by-side as they had a thousand years before.

And within the belly of a child, the guardian of the secrets of the White Moon Kingdom flashed yellow and blue.

_Haruka-ouji. Michiru-hime._

Pluto watched as her two oldest friends died together, as they had in previous lives, but this time she doubted that they would be reborn. Not with Chaos in the body of Galaxia on the battlefield. She didn't know why the dark Sailor hadn't taken their starseeds yet, but she figured the woman was waiting for all of them to die before harvesting them and throwing them into the cauldron. The enigmatic Time Guardian looked at the young girl at her side and grimaced in pain as some of the minor injuries she had amassed twinged.

"It doesn't look good for us 'Taru-chan."

The dark scout shook her head, her glaive coming to rest on her shoulder as tears threaded their way down her face.

"No, it doesn't Pluto-mama. We're going to die, but we may as well go out with a bang, ne?"

The green-haired senshi nodded with a small smile and faced the enemy with the small senshi by her side.

"Pluto Dead Scream!"

The staff twirled and a large orb of bright purple energy gathered at the gem and then rushed toward the enemy with an inexorable force that was shortly joined by ribbons of black energy.

"Saturn Death Ribbon Surprise!"

Many monsters fell, but one of the leaders, one of the few monsters who had stayed back and watched, stepped forward and then rushed at the two senshi. He hit like a battering ram, knocking the two to either side. Pluto was the first to her feet and attacked with an abandon that she hadn't in millennia. The staff fell across the monster's face, sending him reeling and the two began to fight hand to hand. It wasn't long, however, before Pluto's injuries slowed her down enough for a serious strike to hit her hard. A gash opened in her side, spilling copious amounts of blood to the ground as she hit and rolled away from him, coming to rest at Saturn's feet as she died.

"Pluto-kaasan!"

"Haha, little senshi, she is dead and you will soon follow. There is no way you pathetic little light creatures can defeat Chaos-sama!"

Saturn stood from where she had been checking her 'mother', her head bowed as her grip on her glaive tightened. Without warning, a nimbus of dark, almost violet energy exploded around the small senshi and she raised her head to show that her eyes were glowing very subtly.

"I am **jinkun no mugon, the shinimegami. I am the Senshi of Death, Destruction and Rebirth. I am Sailor Saturn and in the name of the Planet of Darkness, Saturn I am going to **_**kill**_** you!"**

**Saturn held her glaive in front of her then, much to everyone's surprise, she turned her back on the monster.**

** "Saturn Silent Wall!"**

**The bubble of energy surrounded the senshi, the dead Pluto and the monster, who looked at the small warrior in shock and horror.**

** "You wouldn't…you don't have the guts to do that!"**

**Saturn's aura gave every shinobi in the arena the chills as it was just as evil as any bijuu could only hope to be.**

** "Saturn…Death…Reborn…Revolution!"**

**A flash of bright violet light and everything within the bubble of Saturnian energy is simply gone, from the monster, to the pair of senshi and even the ground on which they had been standing. All that was left were two small crystals, one violet, one black floating in the nothingness left by the ultimate attack of the Sovereign of Silence. **

**The silver-haired teen screamed in agony as two more of her friends died against this new and vicious enemy.**

** "Setsuna-san! Hotaru-chan!"**

**Kyuubi's growls and thrashing grew more and more violent as his fur took on first the purple of Pluto's power, then the black of Saturn's. Naruto's screams quieted as Kyuubi suddenly fell quiet and still. **

**The final act was starting and the guardian didn't want to miss any of it, knowing that soon the Shinigami would let him go, if only to get revenge for his family.**

_**Setsuna-hime, Hotaru-hime.**_

** Now, only four stood. The only man had been killed early on and now only Jupiter, Mars, Moon and the Knight stood, but the nin could tell that they couldn't win with the numbers they were against. The green teen was next, the one that Naruto thought was called Jupiter. She crossed her arms in front of her face, her face twisted in agony and anger, and she slashed her arms to her sides, lightning gathering and then forming into a massive form as she shouted.**

** "Jupiter Thunder Dragon!"**

**The great dragon of pure lightning, there was no chakra in the attack that the nin could tell, just pure element manipulation. It was something that none had thought possible. In her grief she didn't see the flanking monsters and as her attack killed three other generals her body was torn to shreds by flanking creatures who took great pleasure in consuming the teen's flesh. The small green crystal hung lifeless until, unlike the others, it rushed the silver-haired teen and slammed into the broach on her chest. **

_**Makoto-hime**_

** Mars was next, falling to a woman in an outfit similar to the teen's, but in black and adorned with bells. Her hair was plaited into thin pig-tails and she had cat ears and a cat tail. Mars fought valiantly, but in the end the two killed each other; the one called Sailor Tin Nyanko dying through Mar's fireball and Mars losing her star seed and fading into oblivion. The silver-haired teen clutched the red-clad teen, her mourning painful for all who saw it. **

** "Rei-chan, you can't leave me!"**

** "Usagi-chan…be strong…we're…with…you…"**

**The teen faded, leaving only her star seed, which flashed and then embedded itself in the broach, as Jupiter's had. The mourning teen was left with only air clutched to her chest as her friend vanished.**

_**Rei-hime**_

** Finally, there were two. Usagi knelt sadly at the feet of the Knight, who stood with no expression on their visible face. The eyes, though, showed that this particular soldier was angered in a way that made the nin shudder. The eyes shone with an inner light, a malicious inner light.**

** "Serenity-sama, promise me something."**

**Usagi looked up at her only remaining guard and nodded, unable to speak.**

** "Promise me that you will fight, no matter what happens to me, no matter what that Galaxia bitch tells you and no matter what weapons you are given. Fight, but remember who you are."**

** "Wh-what do you mean Hiroseki-chan?"**

**The Knight, now called Hiroseki and now identified as a woman, turned suddenly sad eyes to her princess.**

** "Serenity-sama, you are a soldier, like the rest of us. I am a warrior, something that is odd within the Moon Kingdom, and am completely willing and trained to kill or be killed. You are not made to kill hime. Your greatest weapon is the same weapon that all Lunarians are gifted with."**

** "The ginzusho?"**

** "Iie. You are gifted with the ability to forgive and the large heart required to change people with your mere presence." A sad smile graced her face.**

** "You have the ability to heal the hurts that you don't even know are there. To answer questions that people aren't even aware their souls are screaming. **_**That**_** is your gift, the gift of your people; you cannot forget that my lady for I believe that will be the gift that wins the day."**

**Usagi, Serenity-hime, nodded, her eyes wide as the Knight smiled brightly and turned back to face her enemies; all that was left of the monsters that had attacked. Sailor Iron Mouse, Sailor Lead Crow and three youma generals from her old home in the Netherworld faced her, all wearing snarls and sneers that they seemed to think would frighten the veteran warrior. She twitched her wrists and, much to the surprise of the spectators, a pair of well-worn and well taken care of tonfa appeared in her hands. **

** "Nemesis Agony Obliteration!"**

**A pair of dark blue slashes cut through the air where she had sliced the air and rushed toward the three generals, one of whom couldn't get out of the way quickly enough. The youma, one of the most powerful in the Netherworld, is easily sliced into three pieces as the slashes hit and went straight through him. She twirled and blocked an incoming blow, trading slashes and stabs with a youma with what looked like scissors for hands. They trade blow after blow until Nemesis ducked and spun faster than the youma could react, slicing his guts open and spilling his innards across the battleground. He dies slowly, but Nemesis is already fighting the next enemy: Sailor Iron Mouse. Attack after attack is launched from the strange, white haired agent of Chaos, her mouse ears twitching in anger as each missed the lithe and surprisingly flexible Knight. **

** "Stand still you stupid bitch!"**

** "Not likely. Nemesis Chains of Agony!"**

**A pair of chains came from under her gauntlets and into the ground, only to appear again at Iron Mouse's feet to wrap around the woman's body.**

** "What? AHHHHH!"**

**Black arcs of energy coursed through Iron Mouse's body and held her in place as her thrashing slowed and eventually stopped as her screams were silenced in death. The chains dropped the sailor and slithered back to Nemesis, who turned her back on her dead foe and faced her next set of enemies; the last of the Netherworld generals and Sailor Iron Crow. Both were easy enough to defeat as Nemesis was angrier than she had been in a millennium, making it easier to access her attacks without nearly killing herself.**

**As Nemesis stood in the viscera of her enemies she knew that she would die within seconds of starting her next attack, but then, she had died many times before; that had ceased to frighten her many centuries before. She banished her tonfa and reached inside her heart for her greatest weapon: the Nemissian war hammer. It had a black wood handle and bolts that held the long side panels of the head to the wood. The head itself was as wicked as was Nemissian tradition; having a large, armor piercing spike on one side and a large, heavy hammer-end on the other. The head was etched with twisting vines and star-shaped blossoms inlaid with rose gold. **

** "Nemesis…"**

**She ran full speed for the Chaos-possessed Sailor Scout they had fought for what seemed like forever.**

** "Hammer blow…"**

**The head of the hammer glowed a wicked red, the same red that Konoha nins recognized from the Kyuubi attack.**

** "Destructive…"**

**The woman leapt into the air as the gold-clad Sailor raised a hand and started her own attack, but she wouldn't be in time; she had underestimated the warrior that was her foe.**

** "Wave!"**

**The wave of violent red and blue energy swirled and twisted in the parody of a dance as it approached the enemy. The energy slammed into Galaxia, sending her sprawling back as her own attack slammed into the chest of the warrior, ripping through her heart and tearing out her star seed, a darkened husk of what it had once been…what it had been before her banishment and the betrayal of her family. She fell slowly, first to her knees, then to her side as her star seed gently floated into Galaxia's outstretched hand.**

** "Please…remember…who…you are…Serenity-hime."**

**The warrior faded, first her armor, then the rest as her eyes dulled and her breathing stopped. **

**The last Nemissian was finally dead.**

**-----------SOG-----------**

** Kyuubi froze entirely, his body stilling as he glowed with the darkened energy of the person he loved so very much; the person he had fought beside for so long in the Netherword. Her death at the hands of this…**_**fake**_** scout pissed him off like nothing had before, but he finally realized that his jailor would have to release him if he was to help.**

_**"Kit, please…let me go."**_

"_**What? I'm not lettin' you out furball!"**_

_** "Kit my mate just died! I am barely holding on to my anger as it is. Please let me go or I will have to kill you to get out and then she would never forgive me for killing a young one."**_

**The chuunin hopeful stopped and thought about that.**

"_**But…if that person was able to kill all those fighters…what is to say that she won't kill you?"**_

_**"She might, but I would rather die trying to avenge my mate than die when you do."**_

"_**You…have a point.**__**I want your word that you won't try to attack anyone here."**_

_** "Done kit. I swear to you, on my love for my mate, that I will not attack anyone in this world. My only target is that gold bitch."**_

**Naruto, naïve as he was, realized just what that promise meant to the fox and nodded both internally and externally.**

** "Okay fox. Go to her…and good luck."**

**Naruto fell into his mind and quickly tore the seal off the fox's cage, instinctively knowing that he would die. **

**Normally.**

**-------------SOG--------------**

**The Arena watched in terror as a bright red nimbus surrounded Naruto and the seal fractured. Naruto's eyes dulled, his body sank to the ground and Sarutobi, the Hokage, watched in horror as the boy he had promised to protect, died. Naruto's body bucked as a large shape pulled itself from his guts, dragging many of them with it as it went. Soon, the terror of Konoha, the demon that so many had died to seal; the Yondaime had died to seal, stood over the body of his once jailor. The nine-tailed fox stood the size of a horse, staring up at the scene above them as Usagi stared at her enemy with tears running down her face. His voice was a rumble of earthquake, a howl of wind, a growl of consuming fire and a scream of rushing water. **

_**"Hogosha, I'm coming."**_

**The Kyuubi leapt into the air, his tails flaring and glowing as his form shifts from fox to humanoid, his body elongating, features cementing. Another flash and he is wearing armor similar to the Knight, only instead of dark red and broken, his was dark green and pristine. He turned to look at the body of the child who's will had held him for so long and smiled sadly.**

_**"Oh kit, I am sorry for this. I hope…that you are happy with Kami-sama and your family. I'm sure your grandmere will love you, little Lunarian."**_

**Kyuubi turned to regard the scene in the sky and sneered.**

_**"And as for Chaos…well we'll just have to spoil her day, won't we?"**_

**In a blinding light the Kyuubi was gone, appearing in the sky to block the energy of the attack that the gold senshi had sent at her enemy, now in the form of a beautiful Lunarian princess.**

**Hyuuga Hinata ran to Naruto's side, crystalline tears flowing freely as she brushed his bangs out of unseeing eyes and clutched at his hand, sobbing out the soul-deep sorrow of the loss of a soul mate. **

**PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP**

** Kyuubi stood tall in front of the Starlights, who were on the edges of the battle between Serenity-hime and Galaxia, watching for his chance to take potshots at the bitch that had killed his mate. He knew though, only the princess and her light could win the day and possibly get Hogosha and the others back. She fought hard, but when he saw the Light of Hope become a sword…he doubted. He knew as well as his mate that the power of the Lunarians lay not in destruction, but in protection and with all her friends dead, with her planet all but, she had little remaining to protect. Unless she could break through to the true Galaxia…the darkness would win and rule over all with the ginzousho in its hands. Serenity, however, surprised and awed him when she grew wings and the silver crystal shone with a light that he had never even **_**heard**_** of before. Kyuubi knew all that legends surrounding the planet crystals, he held one himself, as did Hogosha and the other princesses, but the one that had fascinated him was the ginzousho, the silver imperium crystal of the white moon kingdom. He had spoken to Selenity, who had told him of its history, but never had he realized that in the right hands **_**this**_** was the power it could wield. The darkness was pushed back and he watched with the Elemental Countries as the black sword of Chaos shattered and Galaxia took the offered hand of friendship. That was the action that Hogosha had known would win the day; the compassion of the moon was insurmountable, as Kyuubi knew from his interactions with his former jailor. The fight was over and Kyuubi smiled when he saw the scouts who had died appear around Serenity, his own mate being behind the others a bit, still not really a part of the group.**

_**"Hogosha-chan."**_

**The Knight spun while the others froze and looked over at where he stood.**

** "Kouken? Koishii?"**

**Kyuubi, now identified as Kouken, nodded and promptly had the breath knocked out of him as his beloved mate tackled him into a suffocating hug and began to cry. He smiled softly and held her close as the sailors all smiled at the pair who had been apart for so long.**

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The reunion was short-lived as the scouts went back to their world after sending Galaxia on her way for redemption, Kagyakuu-hime and the Starlights back to their own system and Chibi-usa back to the future and went home themselves. The view from the Elemental Countries was cut off, but the man they knew as Kyuubi and his mate faded into existence, standing beside what was left of Uzumaki Naruto. Hinata was still beside him, crying silently now, as were the other Rookie 9, Lee, Tenten and the sensei from all the teams. The only ones missing were Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke as even the Hokage had joined the group in the arena.

"Kouken-kun, what is this? Why does he feel like you?"

"How can you feel him? He is dead."

"Since when has that mattered? What happened?"

So Kouken explained to Hogosha how he had gone into a rage when he was yanked from her side during battle and sent to a world he had no knowledge of. How he had been forced into his fox form many years later by a faulty summoning by someone who knew nothing of the so-called _bijuu_ and become enraged when he was told about the man's plans to use them to create a new world under his rule. He was shamefaced when he told her of his rampage in Konoha and his sealing within the child that lay at their feet. He refused to bring his head up by the time he got to what had finally killed the one he considered his kit. Those attending the exams listened silently as the one they had called a demon poured his heart out to the woman before him, some feeling badly for him, but others secretly happy that the demon brat was dead and that the demon was suffering. Hogosha felt all of these responses, and quickly and smoothly powered down from her Knight form; allowing her armor to be stripped from her body and be replaced by tightly fitting breeches and a flowing blouse sewn with crystals throughout. She knelt beside the child her mate had claimed as theirs and touched his face before smiling wanly and glancing over her shoulder.

"Are you going to show yourself cousin? I know that you do not want this one yet."

The arena's confusion quickly turned to terror as the Shingami slowly appeared behind her.

_"You would be right, but what am I to do? The seal was designed to slowly drain Kouken over the child's lifetime, but you know as well as I do that it takes decades for a seal like that to finish its work. There has not been nearly enough time."_

"Which is why the boy died, but I know that you feel what the boy is as well as I do. You certainly danced with Serenity-hime enough to recognize it. Not to mention you sister is the same."

_"What are you…a star seed? He is…"_

"Lunarian, as if you couldn't tell by the hair and I'm sure he has eyes the color of the sky. All are hallmarks of the Lunarian royal family and as such you are obligated to watch over him and, by the laws that govern us all, none of us may contribute to the death of one of the family."

The smile that stole over the Death God's face was enough to paralyze just about everyone in the arena, Orochimaru/Kazekage-sama included, which would prove to be his downfall in the end.

_"Which means that I can allow his rebirth. Cousin, you are sneaky, I will give you that, but in order for Kouken to remain in the world and _not_ back in the seal I will require the sacrifice of another soul. Preferably one that Kami is not going to yell at me for taking like the first time the seal was used."_

"Which means a tainted soul…which are tastier anyway, aren't they cousin?"

_"Indeed they are. You have someone?"_

The smile that took over the woman's smile was so predatory that it sent shivers through Orochimaru as her amber eyes lit on him.

"Oh yes…I do."

The death of Orochimaru was gruesome, but rather anticlimactic in the end.

All it took was an angry Hogosha when Kouken told her of his actions on the day of the fox's attack. As it turns out, Kouken only became truly enraged after Orochimaru had destroyed a village that the defender had decided to protect. That was enough to anger him into attacking the village that used the symbol on his then-pristine hitei-ate. When Kouken mentioned the orphanage in the small village that was it for Hogosha, who was incapable of having children due to one of her captivities. She was too fast to see as she raced to him, grabbed him by the neck of his robe and punched her fist clear through his gut before dragging his dying carcass down to the Shinigami and throwing him at his feet.

"There. Tainted enough for ya?"

The God merely nodded, knowing that pain often followed anyone dumb enough to piss off his cousin while in this state, and gripped the snake nin by the head.

_"I will enjoy this. A lot."_

He said nothing further as he pulled out the tainted soul and consumed it all in one gulp, letting out a belch as it hit his gut. He then swiped seemingly at air before tossing a small crystal that no one had seen at Naruto's body. It was a star seed and it was Naruto's favorite color of eye-blinding orange, pulsing softly, like a heartbeat. The seed sank into the body and everyone watched in astonishment as the injuries caused by the Kyuubi's release slowly vanished to show a complete seal. The seal blinked and then, also vanished and the boy suddenly took a deep breath, sat up and began to cough and hack, holding his chest tightly as his heart raced a mile a minute. His breathing problem only got worse as Hinata cut off his oxygen consumption with a deep kiss…not that he minded much.

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

A few years passed and Konoha was attacked by many foes including Iwa, who was summarily crushed, Kiri, who was all but annihilated and Kumo, who found out exactly why you didn't want to try to kidnap Naruto's girlfriend. Even though Kouken had left the seal, much of his power had been left behind, meaning that Naruto still had much of the ungodly amounts of chakra he had accumulated while the fox-man was trapped in him. Add to that the power of his star seed and Uzumaki Naruto was a force to be reckoned with…not that Akatsuki knew that when they attacked. The group had seen the fight in the sky, along with everyone else in the Elemental Nations, but they didn't know that Kouken was Kyuubi and they surely didn't know that Naruto was a Lunarian, which meant that not only was he difficult to kill, but he had a pair of protectors that they couldn't hope to defeat. That is not to say that everything was perfect, but things worked out for pretty much everyone.

Naruto married Hinata when they turned nineteen after taking his father's name. The Namikaze-Hyuuga family was still growing strong as Hinata was about to give birth to their fifth child, who would be named Kouken, for the fox-who-wasn't. The young man had also finally reached the lofty goal he had set for himself, making Hokage at nineteen after Tsunade of the Sannin had passed it to him. Sarutobi Hiruzen had served for another year before sending Naruto to convince his wayward student to take the role. The longest-serving Hokage had died in his sleep when Naruto was seventeen.

Sakura never realized her dream of marrying Sasuke, who had fallen so far into his need for power that he had gone after his brother just after making chuunin. Itachi had killed him without any consideration at all, finding that his brother's foolishness was a threat to the village that the so-called 'traitor' loved so much. The last Uchiha had freely gone to his death against his ancestor during the battle of Konoha, both killing each other almost simultaneously. However, the pink-haired girl had found love with a most unlikely source: Hyuuga Neji. After those first chuunin exams Sakura had truly blossomed as a shinobi and, after training with Tsunade, had become a force that no one wanted to reckon with. The Hyuuga prodigy had been caught, hook, line and sinker. The two had married and now had three children of their own; none of whom were forced into the caged bird sealdue to Naruto's slaughter of the council years before. They also learned that it was not a good idea to kidnap and try to hurt Naruto's girlfriend.

One of the strangest couple to marry was Tenten and Rock Lee, who she never would have looked at had he not placed himself between her and a fire jutsu while they were on a mission in Iwa. The chuunin had been seriously hurt and Tenten had carried him (without his weights) all the way home, crying for days when she thought he wouldn't make it. When he woke in the hospital he had begun rambling as per usual and she had kissed him to shut him up. The rest is history and they now had a child who was a taijutsu and weapons master in the making.

Ino had married Chouji after finally getting out of her 'appearances first' mindset and the two had a dual wedding with Nara Shikamaru and Sabaku no Temari. Of course, having Temari's rather protective, former jinchuriki younger brother was great motivation for Shikamaru to just shut up and go to the wedding instead of eloping as he had planned to.

The most surprising pair up was when Aburame Shino and the former Kiri hunter-nin Haku married when they were twenty. Momochi Zabusa and Haku had been thought dead by Team 7 and the others, and they had been, but when Death's cousin lives in your village, loves someone like a son and has blackmail material on Shinigami himself…well a lot of things can happen. The former Demon of the Mist and his accomplice fit right into Konoha, Zabusa courting and marrying Mitarashi Anko, much to everyone's shock and horror as their 'courting' destroyed a good amount of property and resulted in more than one nin requiring therapy. Tsunade just laughed herself sick.

Hogosha and Kouken stayed in Konoha to help protect the village and take care of Naruto, whom both had claimed as a son. They lived in a moderately sized house in the forest and were excellent ninja for Konoha. Hogosha never mentioned her status as exiled princess to anyone and Kouken wasn't willing to face her wrath to do so himself, so they were able to live in peace without too much trouble from Konoha's council. Of course after Hogosha tortured some of the civilian council…they refused to deal with her anymore.


End file.
